Sunday, June 18 2006 12:43 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Berlin: The two finalists from the epic 1978 World Cup final Argentina and The Netherlands moved into the second round of the 2006 edition on Friday.

They both rendered the term Group of Death for Group C redundant as they wrapped up their places in the last 16 with their head to head on June 21 deciding who tops the group.

The Dutch, defeated by Argentina in the 1978 final in Buenos Aires, will have to win that one to finish top as Argentina's 6-0 demolition of Serbia and Montenegro gives them an overwhelming advantage in terms of goal difference.

The Dutch, also finalists in 1974 and more recently semi-finalists in 1998 where they lost on penalties to Brazil, were less convincing in their 2-1 defeat of African Nations Cup finalists Ivory Coast.

The other match on Friday was a drab affair as Mexico made hard work of eking out a 0-0 against Angola, who gained their first point at their first World Cup finals and played the last 15 minutes with 10 men after Andre Macanga was sent off.

Argentina, though, were irresistible as they made a nonsense of Serbia's proud statistic of conceding just one goal in the qualifying group.

Even with the dismissal of the hotheaded striker Mateja Kezman in the second-half the Argentinians would still have been comfortable winners as they led 3-0 at that stage. A double by Maxi Rodriguez plus goals from substitutes Carlos Tevez and 18-year-old prodigy Lionel Messi the fifth youngest scorer in World Cup finals history Esteban Cambiasso and veteran Hernan Crespo overwhelmed the hapless Serbian and Montenegrin side.

However Argentine coach Jose Pekerman refused to get carried away as the South American side bid to end a 20-year drought in landing the title.

"It is premature to even start talking about who we will meet in the last 16," said the 56-year-old, who has brought in several younger talents since taking over from Marcelo Bielsa in October 2004.

"It is pointless talking about who we would prefer to play and those we would not want to," he said.

Serbia and Montenegro's embattled coach Ilija Petkovic said that the difference between the qualifiers and the finals was immense.

"It's another story. They are two different things entirely, playing the qualifiers and the finals," said the 60-year-old.

"Perhaps we weren't capable of handling it," added Petkovic, whose campaign was riven with internal disputes beginning with when he tried to draft his son into the squad.

The Dutch grabbed two goals in the opening half-hour, Robin van Persie and Ruud van Nistelrooy putting them away, while Bakari Kone scored a superb goal for 'The Elephants' - but the Dutch held steady under a second-half onslaught to make the last 16. Dutch coach Marco van Basten was delighted at his side's resolve.

"We started very well. We played good football, created some chances and we scored two goals," said the 41-year-old former AC Milan and Dutch striking legend.

"But we sat back a bit and they came at us, started playing some football and made it difficult to the last minute," he said.

"We were happy to end the game with a victory," he said.

For his Ivory Coast counterpart Henri Michel there was little joy to be drawn from two good performances against Argentina and the Dutch.

"Everyone tells me this team plays great football. What's more important is the result," said the 57-year-old Frenchman.

"And the result was not good. We're out and that's the bottom line," he said.

"It means that Ivory Coast are still not at the level of the big teams at the World Cup," he said.